


The Squad's Summer

by AnSam99



Series: School Days [2]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Childhood, Cute Kids, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29201634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnSam99/pseuds/AnSam99
Summary: Following the squad over summer after their first year of school :)
Relationships: Kevin Cozner/Ray Holt, Sharon Jeffords/Terry Jeffords
Series: School Days [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086518
Comments: 29
Kudos: 36





	1. Amy

June 20th 4pm

Summer vacation was bittersweet for Amy. She loved moving up the school and getting lots of time to study and make schedules for the next school year but she missed school and the teachers. It was only a week into summer and she was already longing to start first grade. Amy had spent the first week mapping out study schedules for the next year and then she’d decided to get a bit ahead with the work and do some research on that. After a week of her daughter being cooped up in her room with books, Mrs Santiago decided she needed to go out.  
“Amy, the boys are going to the park, I want you to go with them please,” she said in her daughter’s doorway.  
“But Mom I’ve nearly finished this book,” Amy protested.  
“Amy honey, that is a textbook for second graders, you’re only going into first grade. You shouldn’t be worrying about all that stuff yet,” Mrs Santiago replied, taking the book and taking it on her daughter’s perfectly tidied desk.  
“I just want to be prepared,” Amy said.  
“I’m pretty sure you’re the most prepared kid going into first grade, in 3 months time. Can you just go to the park with your brothers please. I’m sure you’ll have fun and you need to get out of this room,” Mrs Santiago said.  
“Ok fine,” Amy agreed.

The 7 Santiago boys and Amy wandered in a group along the sidewalk. It was only a couple of blocks to the park. Her brother David led the group, urgh David he was so perfect, checking everyone was holding hands before they crossed the street, his perfection annoyed Amy. Her little brother Max tripped and David knew just what to do, obviously Amy was glad Max was okay, but it didn’t stop her glaring at David the whole journey.

When they reached the park David stood and supervised them all. Amy didn’t like playing with her brothers, they usually hanged up on her. Her brother Acer decided they should play piggy in the middle, with Amy in the middle. It went on for some time as they all laughed and giggled as Amy frantically leapt and scurried around trying to catch the ball. Eventually she had enough and dived at Acer, wrestling the ball out his hands. She retrieved it and Acer rolled about on the floor laughing, Amy could help but laugh too. The next hour the siblings chased eachother round, played hide and seek and then decided to play Amy’s favourite game Cops and Robbers. The Cops, led by Amy, won.  
“Let’s play piggy in the middle again,” Liam suggested.  
This time Amy volunteered to be in the middle, partly because she knew they’d probably make her anyway and partly because she was determined to beat them. The game began and Amy ran around chasing the ball as it flew through the air, but never managed to grasp it.  
Then she heard something that made her stop. Someone had made some pig noises.  
“Who was that?” Amy called, her brothers all looked round confused.  
She shrugged and continued with the game. After 5 minutes or so, she heard it again.  
“Who’s doing that?” She called.  
“Doing what?” A voice called.  
“Jake shut up,” another voice said.  
“Jake? Gina?” Amy questioned walking over to where the voices were coming from.  
“Abort mission abort mission,” she heard Jake say and then she saw him rise from behind the slide and try to make a break for it. Gina grabbed him and pulled him back.  
“No, you made me stop dancing to come and do this, so we are doing it,” Gina said.  
“Hi guys, what are you doing here,” Amy asked, surprised, Jake and Gina didn’t live that near here and there were definitely parks closer to their homes than this one.  
“Jake wanted to ask you something,” Gina said.  
Jake stood there in silence, staring at the ground.  
“Jake?” Amy asked.  
“Umm I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the water park with us over summer?” Jake muttered.  
“Oh yeah. Who’s going?” Amy asked excitedly, David hadn’t been asked to go to any water park with his friends.  
“You know the whole crew Jake, me, Charles, blah, blah, I forget all their other name,” Gina said.  
“I’d love to come, when are you going?” She said.  
“Next month, the tickets are really cheap then. I think my Mom will take me and Gina and Charles’ and Rosa’s parents might come to, I’ll get my Mom to arrange it with you Mom,” Jake said hurriedly, still looking at the ground.  
“Ok cool,” Amy said.  
“Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool,” Jake said really fast, then he and Gina hurried off.

Amy joined her brothers again. It wasn’t long till David worked out they had exactly the right amount of time to walk home before the sun set. Usually Amy would have been annoyed at this, but she smiled the whole way home, daydreaming about going to the water park.


	2. Jake

June 20th 9am

“Jake, stop blowing bubbles in your milk it’s going everywhere,” Karen Peralta insisted.  
The five year old was practically bouncing in his seat and she’d made sure not to put any sugar on his cereal. Somehow his energy was off the chart, Karen presumed it had something to with being baseball day. Jake was shortstop but more importantly Roger Peralta was the coach.  
“Sit still,” she said firmly.  
He stopped wiggling so much in his chair, but his head kept whipping round to see if his dad had woken up yet.  
“Look go and watch some cartoons and then when Dad gets up, you can put your uniform on, I’ll go and get it now,” Karen suggested as her sons eyes were fixed on the hallway, hoping his dad would appear.  
She went to the get his uniform from his room, as she passed her bedroom she leaned in.  
“Roger, he’s waiting for you!” She hissed.  
“Okay, okay, I’m getting up, just put some cartoons on for him or something,” he said dismissively.  
Karen returned with the uniform and sat back down at the table with Jake.  
“Dad!” Jake exclaimed getting up and knocking a box of Cheerios flying as Roger emerged from his room.  
“Jake!” Karen exclaimed, looking at the mess, but he was gone.  
“Are you excited for the match? Do you think we’re going to win?” Jake started to bombard his dad with questions, hopping up and down in front of the man.  
“Yeah ok Jake in a minute, go away,” Roger said, trying to herd Jake away from him. Jake’s face sunk slightly.  
“Jake honey, come put your uniform on,” his Mom called.  
He walked back in to the kitchen, he saw his Mom on her hands and knees collecting cereal debris, Jake joined her and helped her clean up.  
Once his uniform was on, Jake sat around for half an hour until his Dad was finally ready. Jake hopped off the back of the couched and ran too his side.  
“Come on then buddy,” Roger said, ruffling his sons hair.  
Jake beamed at his Dad as they headed for the door.  
“Good luck sweetie!” His Mom said, giving him a big kiss and cuddle and then waving to them as they drove off. 

During the journey Jake babbled to his dad as Roger nodded, pretending to listen. Once they arrived he told Jake to go and sit with the rest of the team. He then huddled the boys up and gave them a pep talk. Jake was determined to do his dad proud.  
“Right good luck fellas!” Roger said, sending the boys off into their positions. He gave Jake a double thumbs up, which triggered a large smile to appear across the boy’s face. 

The game started well, they were winning but Jake was so preoccupied in impressing his dad, he spent more time looking at him than the batters and ball. Not great for a shortstop.  
“Jake eyes on the ball!” Roger hollered as Jake remained stationary after a hit had been made.  
“Move! Move!” Roger shouted.  
Jake ran at the ball but the batter was already in. He looked over to his Dad who was shaking his head and looking at the ground. Jake’s focus returned, he had to turn this around. As the next ball was hit Jake didn’t take his eyes off it, unfortunately he also couldn’t get out of the way from it in time and it hit him right in the chest. The wind was knocked out of him and then the horrible pain spread across the impact. An umpire blew the whistle and tears started to fall down Jake’s face. He fell to the ground and sobbed as the pain increased.  
“Hey buddy, it’s ok,” Roger said rushing over to his side. Instantly Jake felt slightly better. His dad eased him up into a sitting position and rubbing his back.  
“Just breath, slowly in and out,” Roger said soothingly.  
Jake’s cries slowed and a feeling of safety and comfort spread through him.  
“Well done Jakey, come on let’s go sort you out,” Roger said, hoisting Jake off the ground and into a carry. Jake couldn’t remember the last time his dad had picked him up when he wasn’t just moving him away from him or something of his. 

He sat Jake down on the bench and made sure the ball hadn’t done any damage. It hadn’t, there was only a red mark where it had hit. Jake sat there, his tears had subsided, he felt happy sitting next to his dad, but jealous at the same time as his Dad cheered on the rest of the team, praising them for their efforts.  
“Hey dad I’m ready to go back on,” Jake announced.  
“You sure buddy?” His dad asked.  
“Yeah I’m sure,” Jake said, making his way back on to the field. 

The rest of the game Jake played the best he ever played, their team won by quite a way. Roger gave them all high fives and announced he was taking them all to Sal’s across the road. The group chattered excitedly about the game as they ate their pizzas. Jake had never felt so happy in his life, his dad even bought him an extra orange soda as a treat. Parents came by to pick up the rest of the team. Once the last kid left Roger said they were leaving and then did something Jake can not remember him ever doing before; he held out his hand for Jake to take. Their fingers locked and they walked happily to the car still talking about the success of the game.  
“Hey you did really well buddy, you’re getting so much better,” Roger said in the car as they drove home.  
“Thanks Dad,” Jake said his heart feeling as if it could burst with pride. Then something caught his eye, more like someone, in the park he could see Amy and all her brothers. His debated asking his dad to pull over, but he knew he’d say no, so he just didn’t look away and his head followed her until she was a tiny spec in the distance. 

Karen was ecstatic when she heard the news and said as a treat they could all have a movie night and watch Die Hard on the sofa with junk food.  
“Isn’t that right Roger, we’ll have a family movie night as a treat,” Karen called.  
“I’m not watching his fricken Die Hard again,” Roger replied.  
“Hey it’s Jake’s treat so he chooses,” Karen said frustratedly.  
“Anyway I’m going out so I can’t do that,” Roger said, reaching his coat.  
“Well when will you back it’s only like 3:30, we weren’t gonna watch the film till this evening,” Karen argued.  
“I won’t be back then, I’ll be out till at least midnight,” Roger said.  
“What if I let you choose the film dad,” Jake said with a mix of desperation and hope. Karen shot Roger a pleading look.  
“No it’s not that buddy I’m just busy, got to go,” Roger said leaving.  
“Where are you going?” She called. There was no reply.  
“More like who are you going with,” she muttered to herself.  
She turned to see Jake wearing the expression she hated so much, the one of pure disappointment and heartbreak.  
“Hey we can still watch something,” Karen said.  
“Umm I’m gonna go to Gina’s,” Jake muttered.  
Karen sighed, once again Roger had let down their son and she couldn’t make him happy. She gave Jake a kiss and told him to be back in time for them to snuggle on the sofa to watch John Mcclane, he gave her a faint smile as he walked out the door.


	3. Gina

June 20th 11am

Gina was lying around her flat, her Mom had left early for work. She was bored, having attempted many things to keep herself occupied, such as starting her autobiography that she was going to sell when she was famous, dancing, singing, performing a show to an audience of cuddly toys, but nothing kept her interest for long. Then there was a knock on the door, her mind initially went to Jake; they hung out most days, although he had said he was busy this morning. She pondered who it could be, Gina was too small to take a look through the spy hole so just opened it. Standing there was Jimmy Vickus.   
“Hi Gina,” he said.  
“What are you doing here, where’s Jenny?” She asked spitefully.  
“Me and Jenny broke up, I like you more than her, can you be my girlfriend again?” He asked, in the very upfront manner 6 year olds possess.   
“Hmmm I don’t know,” Gina hesitated.  
“I brought you a juice box and a happy meal,” Jimmy revealed.  
“Well why didn’t you say, come on in Mr Linetti,” she said, opening the door wide for him. They were official back together.

They sat crossed legged on the floor and chomped through their happy meals and slurped their juice. Gina was happy, she still really liked Jimmy. The two played truth or dare and would you rather all afternoon. Then they made friendship bracelets and started their wedding planning. Jimmy watched and applauded as Gina performed dances for him, she laughed at his stories. Hours felt like minutes and soon it was deep into the afternoon.  
“Gina I’ve got to get home,” Jimmy announced.  
“No don’t go,” she pleaded.  
“I’ve got to, but I’ll come and see you another time,” he said.  
“Fine,” she sighed.  
“I love you,” he said as they stood up.  
“I love me too,” she replied.   
They gave each other a cute little kid hug and headed to the door. Just then there was a knock.  
“Who do you think it is?” Jimmy said.  
“Maybe it’s burglars,” Gina said looking panicked.  
“Probably just the mailman,” Jimmy said hopefully.  
“Gina?” Jake’s voice called as he banged on the door.  
“What the hell Jake you scared us,” she said opening the door.  
“What’s he doing here. Is he bothering you? Do I need to beat him up?” Jake asked raising his fists timidly, not fancying his chances against a guy 2 years older.   
“No boo it’s fine, we got back together,” Gina declared.  
“Oh cool,” Jake said, lowering his fists.  
“But if you make her upset again, I’ll mess you up,” Jake said unconvincingly, as he tried to pump out his chest.   
Gina smiled at his protectiveness, she’d rehearsed this with him many times and was pleased he remembered what to do.   
“Ok little man, whatever you say. I’ve got to go, bye Gina,” Jimmy said and then left.  
Jake and Gina went inside.

“How was baseball practice?” Gina asked once her and Jake were sat on the carpet in amongst a pile of snacks.   
“Yeah it was really cool, Dad drove me and the guys to Sal’s after the match and he said I’m getting so much better,” Jake said happily, but there was still an undertone of sadness.   
“Well I mean that’s not saying much,” Gina muttered.  
“Hey!” Jake exclaimed, punching her playfully which she retaliated by pushing him over. 

They then spent half and hour making up a handshake, after which Gina decided she was going to put on a play for Jake. He sat still for about 10 minutes but started to get fidgety as she continued in long dance routine and not much plot.   
“Hey Gina can we go to the park?” He suggested.  
“No I’m dancing,” Gina replied, still pirouetting.   
“Please! Please, please, please!” Jake begged, shooting her his best puppy dog eyes.   
“Urgh fine,” she gave in.

June 20th 4:30pm 

They grabbed their coats and headed outside but Jake carried on past the park opposite Gina’s building.   
“Where you going?” She asked, still pretending to be sulking about being made to go to the park.  
“Can we go to a different park?” He asked.   
“Which one?” Gina inquired.  
“Grange Park?” He suggested shyly.  
“That’s like 20 minutes away, why do you wanna go there?” She argued.  
“No reason, I just want to,” he shrugged.   
“Jake if you don’t tell me why then there’s no way I’m going,” she informed him.  
“I said there’s no reason,” Jake insisted.  
“Right, then you won’t mind if we go into this park,” Gina said pushing the gate open.  
“Okay okay, I drove past Grange Park and Amy’s there with her brothers,” Jake admitted.  
“And why do you want to see her. She’s basically a teacher and there’s no way you want to see them in summer,” Gina argued.  
“I wanted to ask her if she’ll come to the water park with us next month,” he said.  
“Uh does she have to come?” Gina said miserably.  
“Yeah, it will be really fun with everyone there,” Jake suggested.  
“Urgh fine, I’m being so nice today and I’ve agreed to so many things you’ve said so the rest of the week I’m doing whatever the hell I want,” Gina declared.   
“Thankyou Gina, I love you,” Jake said grinning and hugging her. 

They set off to the park, Jake even bought Gina a packet of gum on the way to say thanks, a big gesture for a 5 year old. Once they got there, they could see Amy and her brothers from a distance.   
“Ha! She’s the piggy in the middle,” Gina laughed. Enjoying watching Amy run around desperately trying to catch the ball off one of her brothers.   
“Come on, let’s sneak up on her,” Jake said.   
They creeped through the bushes and across the sandpit, taking unnecessary cover behind trees. Amy was far too involved in the game to notice them. Gina and Jake managed get behind the slide without being discovered.   
“Now what?” Jake whispered to Gina.  
Gina poked her head over the side and oinked, ducking as Amy’s head whipped round.  
“Who was that?” She called.  
Jake and Gina tried to suppress their giggles, their faces looking like they were going to explode with laughter.   
Amy resumed the game and then Jake and Gina popped their heads over and oinked, ducking back down quickly.   
“Who’s doing that?” Amy exclaimed.  
“Doing what?” Jake blurted out.  
“Shut up Jake!” Gina said, slapping his shoulder.   
“Ow!” Jake replied.   
Gina went to stand up as Amy came closer, she supposed they would actually have to invite her now. It’s not that she didn’t like Amy, I mean she didn’t like her as much as she liked some people, she just found Amy quite boring and the complete opposite of her and Gina loves Gina so something that’s not like Gina she’s not that into.   
“Abort mission, abort mission,” Jake said making to run away.   
Gina grabbed his arm, she didn’t come all this way for nothing.  
“No you made me stop dancing for this, so we’re doing it!” Gina declared, pulling Jake back.   
“Hi guys, what are you doing here?” Amy asked.   
Gina looked at Jake, but he just stood their in silence, staring at the ground.  
“Jake wanted to ask you something,” she prompted, nudging him.   
“Jake?” Amy asked.  
Jake looked up slightly, Gina sighed, this was painful to watch. Just ask her already!!   
“Umm I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the water park with us over summer?” he said shyly.   
Finally, Gina thought.   
“Oh yeah. Who’s going?” Amy asked, her face brightening. Gina felt quite sorry for her, this was probably the only invite she had all summer apart from going to the library with Kylie or something.   
Gina didn’t have the patience to wait for Jake to remember how to speak so she jutted in with: “You know the whole crew Jake, me, Charles, blah, blah, I forget all their other names,” getting bored of saying names that weren’t hers.   
“I’d love to come, when are you going?” Amy asked them.   
“Next month, the tickets are really cheap then. I think my Mom will take me and Gina and Charles’ and Rosa’s parents might come to, I’ll get my Mom to arrange it with you Mom,” Jake said, Gina noticed he had resumed staring at the ground.   
“Ok cool,” Amy agreed.   
“Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool,” Jake said, Gina laughed at the awkwardness, it was cringe worthy.   
Amy returned to her brother and Jake and Gina headed back across the park.   
Jake took a big sigh, she noticed a massive smile had appeared across his face.   
“What happened to you back there?” Gina asked.  
“Oh nothing,” Jake replied.  
“Uh hmmm,” Gina insinuated.   
Jake shot her a smile which she returned.   
“Anyway, let’s go back and I can perform you the rest of my play,” Gina said. “The remaining 2 hours,” she muttered to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any suggestion are welcome :)


	4. Kevin

Kevin enjoyed the summer, he and Holt could relax and see each other more; they weren’t teaching. They wrote dissertations together and learnt a new language each summer. But something was burdening Kevin, so when they returned from their morning power walk, he decided to confront Ray.   
“Raymond, I wonder if we might have a discussion?” Kevin asked politely.  
“Why certainly Kevin, what would be the most appropriate location for this discussion?” Holt replied.  
“Here would be satisfactory,” Kevin declared, sitting down on the couch. Raymond sat opposite him.   
“Raymond, I am rather worried,” Kevin started.  
“What about?” Asked Holt, only his husband would have been able to detect the concern in his voice.   
“I have never worked with children as young as the ones at your school and I fear as if I am going to fail miserably,” Kevin explained.   
“That is utter nonsense, you are an amazing teacher,” Ray assured him.  
“It is not the teaching I am worried about, I can handle first grade Math and English, it is the children. I have never been responsible for such young humans before and I am not familiar with all their needs,” Kevin replied, his brow wrinkling with worry.   
“Kevin listen, I had the exact same thoughts before I started, I was scared but you do not need to be. You will be fine. You have an amazing bunch of young people and Mr Jeffords is sharing the class with you, you will not be along and you can always come and get me. And their needs, all they need is a teacher, willing to go a hundred miles to help them succeed, they need you Kevin,” Holt said.   
“The way you talked about the group last year, it sounds like I have got a bunch of misfits,” Kevin protested.   
“Yes you do, but an extraordinary bunch of misfits they are. I promise you, they will provide you with the most rewarding moments of your career. Yes they are all a handful, but I can honestly say they make the job worthwhile. Any issues can always be brought to me, I am happy to help,” Ray said, smiling as he thought about the 6 year old miscreants.   
“Thankyou Raymond,” Kevin said, holding out his hand, the worry had gone from his face.   
Holt grasped the hand and shook it firmly and then did something they usually reserved for the night hours, he pulled Kevin into a hug, which Kevin returned. He was looking forward to meeting Holt’s work family, who he seemed to care so deeply about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep suggestions coming, I’m loving them. I am starting to plan their second year of school work if you have any requests for that :)


	5. Holt

A few days after Kevin voiced his worries to Holt, they began to devise plans for the new school year. They made a whole years worth of lesson plans, timetable, tests, they’d practically done all of next years work.  
“So tell me about my class,” Kevin said.  
“Are we lifting the no work talk at home policy?” Holt asked.  
“Well now we have the same place of work it seems silly to keep it in place. Plus all I have heard about them so far is all the bad stuff they do, what are they really like,” Kevin inquired.   
“Well there is Hitchcock and Scully, do not bother trying to call them by their first names, they do not remember them. They are loveable but dopey, food is the main thing on their minds but they are good people, a little strange but they try hard when they are not sleeping,” Holt told Kevin.   
Holt pressed on through the rest of the class.  
“Charles Boyle, is one of the most selfless and kindhearted people there is. He will do anything for his friends and absolutely worships Jake and the ground he walks on. His grades are good and he is a pretty good student, if you are not bothered by his continuous stream of anecdote interruptions. Rosa Diaz is one of the most talented and misunderstood people I have met. She is tough but do not be fooled, she has a big heart and will always try her best. Behaviour can sometimes be an issue but grades never are,” Holt went on.   
Kevin’s excitement was growing. He couldn’t wait to meet his new class.   
“Now Miss Gina Linetti Spaghetti Confetti. She is a force of nature, so unique it is a wonder to know her. Her confidence sometimes mask her true kindness. Her and Jake together can be a handful though. Oh and be prepared for some dance routines,” Holt warned him.   
He smiled, the prospect of having Gina in a class was slightly more nerve wracking.   
“Finally Amy and Jake, they are polar opposites of each other. Amy is the most diligent and dedicated student you will ever meet, she is extremely bright and excels at everything academically. Jake tends to lack self belief, he is easily distracted and struggles to manage his behaviour but he is incredibly smart. Both are very good young people and have hearts of gold, I am sure you will get very attached to them all,” Holt finished.   
“I very much doubt that, but they sound like a nice group,” Kevin replied.  
“Oh just you wait and see...” Holt said.


	6. Rosa

Saturday night, Rosa's favourite night of the week; family game night. Her, her parents and two sisters all sit round, get competitive and play games. It is great there is no small talk, just competition. Saturday is one of the few times Rosa wears a smile for more than a minute, even if she loses, she just enjoys the family time. Being away from school was great; she could play with her weapons all day, there were no teachers or pointless work, less expectations to live up to and less pressure. Although her parents were very strict during the school year, they did ease up over summer with their disapproving comments. Rosa had started to have interests outside of her acrobatics, fighting skills and weapons; ballet and jewelry making had brought her some new satisfaction. She would never tell any of her friends about it, they already knew too much about her. Rosa had begged her parents to move after her 6th birthday party when the squad came round, but Oscar and Julia Diaz didn’t see people knowing their address as an issue, much to Rosa’s annoyance. 

As game night began the smiles crossed faces and competitive spirit rose. Her Dad won Monopoly and her mother won pictionary.   
“Rosa, elbows off the table,” Julia scolded as she brought out Scrabble.  
Rosa sighed but complied, channelling her annoyance into her determination to win Scrabble. Her younger sisters had got tired and gone to bed, so it was just her and her parents battling it out. Soon the board was filled with words, after each was placed Oscar grabbed a dictionary to check it was valid. The draw bag was slowly emptying. Rosa was down to her last few letters. The draw bag was empty, it was now down to whoever used up all their letters first. On her turn Rosa saw her chance, placing her remaining tiles on the board to form the word “wheezily”.   
“Ha, I win,” Rosa declared.   
“No wheezily is spelt with an ely,” Oscar argued.  
“No it is not, look it up,” Rosa defended.   
“I don’t need to; I know!” Oscar declared, then grabbing his remaining tiles and forming a word.   
“But Dad, that’s not fair, I won!” Rosa protested.   
“No you didn’t because I won!” Oscar shouted.   
“Rosa listen to your father!” Julia interjected.  
“But he’s wrong!” She shouted standing up.   
“Rosa, go to your room, you are 6 years old, we are the ones who know how to spell not you!” Her mother shouted.   
“I hate you!” Rosa bellowed, stomping off to her room.   
She returned to the feeling she knew so well, wishing she had a different family, wishing they could just appreciate her and wishing she was with her friends. Rosa was too angry to go to bed, so pulled on her ballet slippers and began perfecting her moves, to a standard her parents would approve of. It was hours before Rosa finally stopped dancing and went to sleep. 

It was 10:30 the next morning and Rosa still hadn’t woken up from her late night.   
“Rosa, your friends are here!” Her mother called, Rosa didn’t register this statement until it was too late. She bolted upright in her bed as she heard the footsteps in the hall and then the door opened.   
“Good morning!” Jake said happily, plonking himself down in Rosa’s beanbag.   
Rosa sat wide eyed in her bed and looked around her room, she hadn’t had time to hide things. The ballet slippers were discarded on the floor, her jewellery making stuff all set up on her dresser and her makeup and nail polish, right by Jake’s feet.   
“Who are you and what have you done with Rosa?” Gina asked.   
“Shut up, why didn’t you call me before coming!” She said through gritted teeth.   
“You told us you didn’t have a phone and that even if you did, you wouldn’t give the number to us,” Jake explained as his eyes wandered around all the My Little Pony figures.   
“So you do ballet?” Gina asked, she had already put on the slippers and was dancing around the room.  
“Yes,” Rosa reluctantly admitted.   
“And you make jewelry and play with My Little Pony while you paint your nails,” Jake said grinning.   
“Shut up Jake,” Rosa warned.   
“Aww Ro-Ro, I’m not scared of you, you’re actually a big softie,” He taunted.   
Rosa snapped. She launched at Jake and got him in a headlock, he struggled and tried to fight back.   
“Woah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” He protested as Rosa punched him in the chest.   
“That’s the Rosa I know,” Gina said as she watched on, ignoring Jake’s cries for help.   
Rosa continued to beat Jake up.   
“Okay Rosa, maybe ease off him a little bit, his Mom will be annoyed if she finds out I let im get hurt, just 3 more hits,” Gina said, getting bored of watching and starting to put on the makeup.   
Rosa finally released Jake, who looked terrified. He had tears in his eyes, but quickly wiped them away sheepishly.  
“You take it back?” Rosa asked.  
“Yes, yes, yes, I take it back, you’re a badass” Jake said hurriedly.   
Rosa smiled and stood back up and sat on her bed.   
“So why'd you guys come round?” She asked.   
“Oh yeah, do you wanna come to the waterpark with us next month?” Gina asked.   
“Yeah sure, who’s taking us?” Rosa replied.   
“Gina’s Mom or my Mom and then probably Charles’ dad and then one of Amy’s parents I think,” Jake answered.   
“Cool, I’ll come,” Rosa declared.   
“Noice,” Jake said grinning.   
Soon after that Rosa made them leave, Jake was too scared to argue and Gina was bored anyways. Once they had gone Rosa sat in her room smiling, it wasn’t all bad. She spent the rest of the day dancing, making jewellery and playing with her My Little Pony Toys, oh and being a badass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I wrote a poem about Brooklyn 99, I'd really appreciate if you could check it out. It is in my wokrs and it is called A Precinct Poem. I hope you like it :)


	7. Charles

Charles loved the summer, him and his Dad went on big Boyle Boys adventures. He did sometimes miss Jake if there were days they didn’t hang out, but he made sure to send him a daily update letter anytime he went away. So far this summer they’d been to several different food camps. His Dad had bought him his first food dehydrator, the one his father had given him when he was Charles’ age. All in all he was having a great time. He couldn’t wait to start first grade; a whole new year of seeing all his friends everyday. At the moment Charles had more pressing matters: Jake’s birthday was coming up! He had been in contact with Karen, who seemed a lot less enthusiastic about the prospect, saying they would just have all the gang round and have a cake or something. So far Charles had managed to convince her to get a bouncy house and hire a clown; someone had to make an effort, Roger wasn’t going to. It had taken Charles a good couple of months but he had finally crafted the perfect present for Jake, he couldn’t wait to see his best friend’s face when he saw it. 

It was Monday morning, Charles and his Dad had been making a casserole with his Dad all morning. At 11 there was a knock at the door.   
“Hey Jake,” he heard his Dad greet.  
Charles let out a scream of delight and leapt out the chair, rushing to the door to meet Jake.   
“Jakey!” Charles exclaimed, bounding over to his friend and embracing him tightly.  
“Hey Charles,” Jake replied, trying to breathe through Charles’ hug cutting off his oxygen supply.  
“Did you come all this way by yourself?” Lynn Boyle asked the 5 year old.   
“Uh huh,” Jake replied, Charles had finally released him.   
“Is your Mom at home?” Lynn asked.   
“No she’s at work,” Jake answered.   
“Oh, so she left you all on your own?” Lynn questioned.  
“No she left me with Dad, but then he said he had something he needed to attend to and went out. I got bored so I came here,” Jake told him, Charles was still bouncing up and down with excitement at Jake coming over unexpectedly.  
“I see,” Lynn said, a concerned look on his face.   
“Is that okay, I can go if you’re busy” Jake suggested.   
“No buddy that’s fine, come on in,” Lynn welcomed,   
Jake had barely stepped in the door when Charles dragged him to his room, desperate to give Jake a tour of the changes he’d made. 

“This is Arlo, this is Madison, this is Mario and this one is Jake!” Charles explained, he had told Jake the name of every single stuffed animal in his room, all 240 of them.   
“Cool,” Jake said, snapping out of his daydream. “Hey Charles, do you want to come with me and Gi-”  
“Yes, one thousand times yes,” Charles burst out.   
“You don’t even know what it is yet,” Jake said.   
“If you’re going, I’m going Jakey!” Charles returned.   
“Okay, well I was gonna ask if you wanted to come to the waterpark next month with me and the gang?” Jake finished.   
“YES!” Charles shouted.   
“Cool, well it should be fun,” Jake replied.   
“Let’s go tell my Dad,” Charles said, grabbing Jake’s wrist and leading him down the hall.   
“Hey boys,” Lynn said as the two boys skipped into the room.   
“Hey Dad, guess what! Jake’s invited me to go to the waterpark with everyone next month!” Charles told him.   
“Hey that will be fun. Can I come as well Jake?” Lynn asked.   
“Sure you can, Mr Boyle,” Jake replied.   
“Oh and Jake, I called your Mom just to let her know you were here. She gets off work in about half an hour, do you boys fancy going to the park and she can pick you up from there. It’s just less of a journey for her,” Lynn suggested.   
“Yeah!” The boys erupted and scrambled to put their shoes and coats on. 

Charles and his Dad held hands as they walked, Charles kept begging to hold Jake’s hand but Jake said he was too big to hold hands. Lynn managed to persuade him to hold his hand when they crossed the street and it wasn’t long before Jake felt left out and clung to Charles’ hand the rest of the walk. At the park Lynn pushed them both on the swings, then Charles watched and applauded as Jake did the monkey bars and then they both settled down and played in the sand. Soon Karen arrived.   
“I can’t believe he left him, thank you so much for taking him, sorry about all this!” Karen muttered to Lynn   
“Not at it, it is a pleasure having him and I’d much rather look after him than him to be left alone,” Lynn assured her.   
“Hey Mom,” Jake said running up to her.   
“Hey buddy,” Karen said, crouching down and embracing her son, after she’d let him go Charles insisted on hugging her too.   
“You boys ready to head off home?” Lynn asked them.   
“Okay,” They replied.   
The four of them walked across the field together, Jake and Charles walking in front holding hands and the parents behind them.   
“Dad!” Jake called out.   
Roger Peralta was walking along the bottom of the field, checking his watch. He looked up and horror came across his face when he saw Karen.   
“Jake stay there!” Karen said as she began marching towards her husband.   
“Hey boys, why don’t we play a game of I Spy?” Lynn suggested.   
But Jake could not be distracted, he watched as his parents argued in the street.   
“You left him alone! He is 5 years old!” Karen screamed at Roger.   
“He’s fine, look at him,” Roger protested.   
“Anything could have happened! What you did was illegal, I could call the police on you!” Karen shouted back.   
“It’s not a big deal, calm down!” Roger argued.   
Jake went to run over to them but Lynn caught his arm.   
“Stay here buddy, let your parents talk,” he said, patting Jake on the shoulders.   
Eventually Karen and Roger stopped shouting, Karen ordered Roger to go and get a pizza and movie to watch with Jake to make up for missing the day with him.   
“Come on honey let’s go home,” Karen said, walking back over as Roger headed down the street.   
“Is Daddy angry with me?” Jake asked.   
“No honey of course he’s not angry with you. You did nothing wrong. Now he has gone to get a movie and a pizza to make up for leaving you, so say goodbye to Charles,” Karen said.   
“Everything okay?” Lynn asked, while the boys were busy saying goodbye.   
“Yeah it is now, sorry you had to see that. And thanks again for everything you did today,” Karen told him.   
“Anytime,” Lynn said smiling, he took Charles’ hand and headed off back home.   
Karen then hoisted her 5 year old into a carry and he rambled on about going to the waterpark the whole way home.


	8. Terry

Terry loved summer. No marking, no teaching, he still had kids to take care of but at least he got a break from his class of kids. 3 months of not having to tell Jake off all the time or having to tell Gina to stop dancing, or Charles to stop talking, or Rosa to stop fighting, or HItchcock and Scully to stop eating. It was nice to have a break, he was looking forward to teaching them all next year, especially with Kevin’s help. But for now Teacher Terry had been replaced by Vacation Terry. 

Every morning him and his girls played dress up and had a fantasy dress tea party while they ate breakfast. Him and Sharon dropped the girls off at Sharon’s parents every Friday night and had a nice romantic night in, remembering what life was like before they had kids. They had decided the girls deserved a treat so they had booked to take them to a waterpark later in summer, which Cagney, Lacey and Ava could not stop talking about. 

It was Saturday morning and Terry and Sharon got into their minivan and set off to go and pick up the girls. When they stopped at a set of lights Terry looked at the side walk, he smiled; Charles was walking down the street with his Dad, they were holding hands and engrossed in conversation, probably about food or Jake. Terry smiled, maybe he did miss his class a bit, he’d seen a few of them over summer. He’d walked past Rosa in a store, she looked horrified to see him, so they just nodded at eahother. Amy had been at the library when he took his girls for a storytime, they’d had a quick chat and he’d told her not to work too hard but she insisted all the school books she was taking out were for her brothers. Jake and Gina had seen him and run up behind him and yelled “Jeffords” and then chaged off down the street laughing, but he’d saw the backs of them and knew who they were. He’d seen Hitchcock and Scully at the movie theatre, by the end of the film both them and thier families were fast asleep. He had also had dinner with Kevin and Holt multiple times and he went on a weekly dog walk with Holt and the girls, who loved Cheddar the dog. Terry smiled, and a little exctiment for the new school year bubbled inside. Surely first grade would be a bit more relaxing than Kindergarten, then he rememebred his class; nope, not possible.


	9. The Waterpark

“Jake! Gina! If this behaviour continues, no one will be going to the water park!” Karen Peralta yelled, as two children charged around her with water pistols. Gina had stayed over for the night, in return Darlene was taking the gang to the waterpark. Karen wanted to go, but she had to work today, otherwise it would mean missing Jake’s birthday. The two kids had been up since 5:30am and had been bouncing of the walls with excitement. Karen was trying to pack Jake a backpack to take, but the little balls of chaos were too distracting.   
“Roger, can you come and help me!” She called.  
“I’m going out!” He replied and she heard the front door open and shut.  
Just then Gina barged past her followed by Jake, who has a tube of ketchup. Before she could do anything, he had taken the cap off and squirted Gina.   
“Hey! That’s not okay!” She shouted grabbing the ketchup from him, this got Jake’s attention; Karen did not usually yell.   
“Jake you ruined my clothes!!!” Gina moaned, looking at her red splattered outfit.   
“Right, Gina don’t worry honey, I’ll take you to the bathroom and we can clean it off. Jacob, you’re going to sit in timeout and think about you behaviour!” She said firmly.   
“No!” He replied, stomping his foot.   
“Excuse me mister, do you want to go to the water park?” She asked him, crouching down, level to his pouty face.   
“Yes!” He grumbled, through his glare.   
“Well you better march your butt over to the corner and sit in timeout then,” she told him.   
“Noooo! I wanna play!!” He whined.   
“I am going to count to three. 1...2...3,” she warned, Jake did not move, he just crossed his arms and stomped his feet.   
Karen could sense a meltdown coming so she knew she had act quick. She grabbed his wrist and led him over to the corner, overriding his struggles to escape her grip.   
“Right you sit there and I’ll have a think about whether I am going to let you go to the water park!” She told him.   
The news that there’s a chance he may not be going to the water park, opened the floodgates for a tantrum. Jake kicked and screamed and wailed in the timeout corner.   
“Come on Gina, let’s go and sort you out,” Karen said calmly, ignoring her son’s fit. Her and Gina wandered down the room, Jake’s cries echoed down the hall, she imagined the neighbours could hear them too. She knew it was because they were both very overtired and hadn’t had a lot of sleep, but they were being such a handful today, poor Darlene.   
Karen managed to get the stains out of Gina’s dress, the cries from the living room had faded and she led Gina back in. Jake was sitting there snuffling and hiccoughing, with puffy eyes and a red face.   
“I’m sorry Mommy,” he spluttered when they walked in. Karen went over to him and crouched down in front of him.   
“Thank you for apologising baby,” she said stroking his hair.   
“Please let me go to the water park, I promise I’ll be really good,” he managed to get out through his cries.  
“Ok buddy, you can go, but I want best behaviour and I’ll be checking with Darlene. Now come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” she said, picking up the 5 year old, who instantly wrapped his arms around her neck.   
Gina had settled down and was munching a snack at the table, she was used to Jake’s tantrums, as he was used to hers. Karen plonked him down on top of the counter and wiped his face and his nose, his cries had stopped now, leaving just the occasional hiccough. She kissed him on the head and then lifted him onto the floor. Gina and Jake then sat nicely eating a snack and babbling about nonsense kid things. 

Soon after Darlene arrived.  
“Who’s ready for some fun?” She bellowed when Karen had let her through the door.   
“Me! Me! Me!” Jake and Gina screeched back, as they jumped up and down with excitement.   
They grabbed their backpacks and put their coats on and even sat still while their Moms tied their shoes.   
“Have an amazing day Jakey! And be good!” Karen said, giving him a big hug and a kiss.   
“I will Mommy,” Jake replied, but the fact that him and Gina were literally jumping up and down, didn’t really assure her they were going to be perfect children today.   
“Good luck,” she whispered to Darlene, who returned with a slightly worried glance.   
She then took both their hand and they headed out to the car.   
“Shotgun!” Gina shouted.   
“Noooo! That’s not fair!!!” Jake erupted.  
They both ran for the car, pushing eachother as they both tried to open the locked front car door.   
“Hey, no fighting. You’re both going to sit in the back, because that’s where I put the car seats,” Darlene told them.   
They both huffed, but they were pretty compliant as she strapped them both in, tight enough so they shouldn’t be able to escape.   
“Right now we need to go and pick up Rosa,” Darlene announced.   
“What about Amy?” Jake asked.  
“And that other dude, I think his name is Chuck,” Gina interjected.  
“They’re going to meet us their. Mrs Santiago is driving Amy and Mr Boyle is taking Charles, so they’ll join us at the waterpark,” Darlene explained.   
After about 100 more questions from Jake and Gina, mainly asking whether they could stop on the way for candy, Macdonalds or both, they finally set off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s taken a little while, I will be updating more regularly. I wanted to split this section up a bit to make sure I get it right. Once the waterpark is finished, I have one more story line and then I’m going to send them back to school and start the new school fic, please keep sending suggestions, I love them lots!


	10. The Waterpark II

Darlene didn’t want the stress of having to try and get Jake and Gina back in their seats, so when the got to Rosa’s, she jumped out the car before they had time to ask to get out. Rosa nodded to her Dad, who had spent the last half an hour lecturing her about not joining in if Jake and Gina started misbehaving.   
“Good morning, Mrs Linetti,” Rosa said, walking down the path towards her.   
“Hey Rosa, how you doing?” She greeted happily, Darlene then turned to speak to Mr Diaz, but the door already been shut. They walked back to the car.  
“Thankyou very much for giving me a lift Mrs Diaz,” Rosa said politely.  
“Oh it’s not problem Rosa and please call me Darlene, honey,” she told her.   
They reached the car but they could he a kerfuffle going on inside.   
Darlene opened the door and Jake and Gina were on the floor wrestling.   
“What on Earth are you two doing!” She demanded.  
“I want to sit in the front seat but Jake pushed me when I tried to climb over,” Gina moaned and her and Jake continued to both try and squeeze through to the front while pushing the other out the way.   
“Yeah but you kicked me and punched me,” Jake argued.   
Darlene could see a big argument was going to arise.   
“Enough! Neither of you will be sitting in the front, because Rosa is,” Darlene told them.  
Rosa grinned smugly, while Jake and Gina now united again both sulked.   
“Rosa honey, you go sit yourself upfront and I’ll sort these two out,” she told her.   
Rosa made her way round the front.   
Jake stood with his arms crossed and a big pout on his face, the same as Gina’s who was stamping her feet and glaring at her Mom.  
“Right, back in your seats,” she told them.  
Neither of them move, just intensified their pouts and glares.  
“Jake, I don’t think your Mom will be too happy if I have to tell her you were being naughty,” she warned.   
“Noooo don’t tell Mommy,” Jake burst out, the pout vanishing from his face and worrying spreading across it instead.   
“Then sit in your seat,” she told him.   
He obeyed and then Darlene made her way round and strapped him in.   
“Good boy,” she praised ruffling his hair, he grinned.   
“Can I sit in the front on the way back?” Gina asked.  
“Ok if you are really good all day, you can sit in the front on the way back,” Darlene told her.   
This satisfied Gina, who then let Darlene strap her in.  
“What, but I wanted to sit in the front on the way back!” Jake whined, then started to kick the seat in front of him.   
“Cut it out!” Rosa shot back.   
Jake stopped kicking, mainly out of fear of his friend.   
“Okay buddy, well how about if you are really good all day, I’ll get you a little treat from the gift shop, you too Rosa darling,” Darlene said, sitting back in the drivers seat.  
Jake nodded and sag up straight, ready to try and be on his best behaviour all day.   
“Thanks Darlene,” Rosa said smiling, her parents had never bought her anything when they go on day trips.   
“Right let’s go!” Darlene announced, the 3 kids cheered and they set off to the water park. 

They pulled up into the parking lot an hour later. The kids had been pretty good on the drive, she had only had to tell them off once when they were chewing gum and then throwing it at passing cars. She shut off the engine and then went round to get the stuff from the boot.  
“Jake! Come back here buddy, wait by the car,” she called after the boy, who had gone running across the car park.   
He returned begrudgingly and slouched next to Gina and Rosa against the car.   
“Ok everyone got all their stuff?” She asked them.  
She got a nod from each of them.   
“Right let’s go, Jake buddy I want you to hold my hand while we’re in the car park,” she told him, Karen complained all the time about him running off in all directions when she took him out and she couldn’t risk that. Once she had a firm hold of his hand they headed towards the entrance.   
As soon as the doors opened, they say Amy and Charles stood with Mr Boyle and Mrs Santiago.   
“Jake!!” Charles exclaimed running over to him, Darlene released his hand.   
Charles began to excitedly tell Jake about his car journey and all the strange snacks they’d eaten.   
The kids all huddled and began to chat excitedly, while the parents got the tickets stamped.  
“Come on guys,” Mrs Santiago called.   
The gang hurried through the gate and into the water park.   
“Jake, what did I say about wandering off?” Darlene called after Jake, who had instantly set off on his own.   
He came back, his eyes still scanning everything in sight.   
“Right we need to go and get changed, so Jake and Charles you go with Lynn and us girls will meet you on the other side,” Mrs Santiago suggested.   
The girls we finished changing first and we’re stood on the other side of the changing rooms waiting for the boys to emerge. Eventually they did and Jake and Charles ran over excitedly to Gina, Rosa and Amy. As the kids discussed excitedly where they should go first, Lynn went over to Mrs Santiago and Darlene.  
“Sorry about that, Jake didn’t want to put his armbands on. I had to tell him, that John McClane wore armbands when he went to water parks.” Lynn laughed.   
“Mom can we go now!” Gina called.   
“Ok right guys so the schedule for today..” Mrs Santiago started.  
Jake looked instantly bored, Amy listened intently, desperate to memorise it.   
“So we’re all going to sit here while you guys play in the main pool area until lunch. And then after lunch we’ll go to the other bit of the park where there’s more rides and pools. And then...”  
“Gift shop!!” Jake burst out.  
“Well we’ll see how the day goes, only good children get to go to the gift shop,” Darlene replied.   
“Well after that we’ll get changed and go home. Any questions?” Mrs Santiago finished.   
“Can we go now!” Gina groaned.  
“Regina! Don’t be rude!” Darlene scolded.   
“Yes guys! But do not take off your armbands and stay together. We’re right here if you need anything!” Mrs Santiago called after the children who had all instantly run off. Apart from Charles, who was giving his dad about 100 goodbye kisses and cuddles, before he ran after the group, calling for them to wait up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting to plan for the second school year fic if you want to add any new suggestions, say as many as you want I love all of them so far!! :)


	11. The Waterpark III

The kids splashed and played together, the freedom brought a happiness only children can feel. After a while of swimming they decided to try the slide. It was only a small slide, the bigger slides were in the other bit of the park. They joined the line.   
“Hey do you think we can go down all together?” Charles asked.   
“I don’t want to go down together I want to go on my own,” Rosa said bluntly.   
As the line slowly went down and they got closer to the top, they looked over to the parents, who all waved. Lynn was taking photos of them all. Finally they got to the front. Rosa went first and managed to dive neatly into the water at the bottom, Amy followed in a similar manner. Next was Jake who cannonballed in. Gina got in next.   
“Jake catch me at the bottom!” She called, it echoed down to Jake, who stood ready.  
Gina tumbled out, straight onto Jake and both of them ended up in a heap in the water, Rosa and Amy thought it was hilarious, especially when moments later Charles landed on top of them.   
“Aww you guys tried to catch me, thanks Jakey and Gigi!!!” He exclaimed. 

They carried on splashing around together and then Jake saw something.   
“Oh my god!” He said, stunned.  
“What?” Amy asked, trying to follow his gaze, soon her eyes landed on what Jake had seen and she too was shocked.  
“Guys, come here!” Jake called to the rest of them.   
Once they’d gathered round him, he showed them what he’d seen.   
“Oh my god!” Gina exclaimed.   
“Shhhhh,” Jake hushed her.   
“Are you think what I’m thinking?” Gina asked.   
“No dont, guy please,” Amy begged.   
“On three,” Jake agreed, grinning.   
“One, two, three.....JEFFORDS!!!!!” They screeched and then all of them immediately ducked under the water.   
Terry swung around and scanned the water, but couldn’t see anyone. Then Cagney pulled his arm and dragged him off to another part of the park. As soon as Terry was out of sight the group emerged and erupted in hysterics.   
“Did you see how many muscles he had!” Gina said.  
“He looked like a superhero,” Jake added.   
“I wish he could teach us shirtless,” Gina said dreamily.   
“Ewww!” Amy said disgusted, but Gina was too busy daydreaming.   
“Hey Amy, look at this,” Rosa called.  
“What?” She asked, turning around, only to have Rosa splash her right in the face. This instigated a splash war as the group charged around trying to get each other. They ended up back at the slide and were laughing and joking as they approached the top, this time the parents were busy talking and didn’t see them. Finally they were at the front, Jake stepped forward to go on the slide but then was shoved to the ground.   
“Hey!” He exclaimed, looking up to see a much older kid standing over him.  
“What the hell man, we were first!” Rosa said standing up to the boy.   
“What are you gonna do Trevor, they were first!” One of his friends said mockingly.   
Jake got back to his feet, only to be shoved back down, he landed hard on the ground and it hurt.   
“Leave him alone!” Rosa threatened, but the boy just shoved her too and she fell hard.   
Charles, Amy and even Gina were knelt on the floor checking if Jake and Rosa were okay.   
“See you little babies around!” The boys mocked as they went down the slide.   
Charles looked as if he was about to burst into tears, Amy looked terrified, Gina was just shocked. Jake and Rosa weren’t badly hurt, just bumped themselves and grazed a few things, they put on a brave face for the others.   
“Should we go back to the parents?” Jake suggested, he really wanted a hug from Darlene.   
They all agreed and climbed back down the steps up to the slide and got back in the pool to paddle back to the adults.   
Jake could see Amy looking around for the boys, clearly shaken up.   
“Amy?” He called.  
Her head shot around and he sent a big wave of water over her.  
“Jacob!” Darlene called.   
But Jake looked at Amy she was smiling, it was worth it.   
Darlene walked over to them as they reached the edge of the water.   
“That wasn’t very nice, say sorry to Amy,” Darlene instructed Jake.  
“Sorry Amy,” Jake said, giving her big puppy dog eyes and grinning, she laughed.   
The kids all managed to squeeze in with the adults on the bench.   
“Are you kids having fun?” Lynn asked.  
“Yeeeessss!!!” Came the unanimous response.   
“Jake stand still, I’ve got to run it in!” Mrs Santiago told the squirming boy as she tried to put sunblock on him. The rest of the kids had been compliant but he was very wriggly.   
“Jake, what happened to you legs and elbow?” Darlene asked, looking at the big bruise on his elbow and grazes on his legs.   
Mrs Santiago finally finished covering him in sunblock and released him.  
“I just fell over,” Jake told her.   
“Aww sweetie, you should have come and told me, I could have got you some ice or a bandaid,” she said as she lifted Jake back onto the bench next to her, pulling him into a big hug. The hug made him feel better than any medicine could.   
“I think it’s time for some food,” Lynn suggested, which caused an excited squeak from Charles. 

The parents unpacked the lunches. Charles and his Dad happily munched down on their strange food that no one else would even consider giving their pets. Amy and her mother ate their meal that contained exactly the suggested amount of each food group scientists recommended. Rosa and Jake are the packed lunches their parents had made for them. Meanwhile Darlene was struggling to get Gina to eat the meal she’d brought for them.   
“Regina, you cannot go and play until you eat your lunch,” Darlene told her sternly.  
“But I don’t like it!!” Gina moaned, looking disgustedly at the salad and fruit her Mom has brought for them.  
“I don’t care, you need to eat,” Darlene said.   
“She can have some of my lunch?” Jake offered, holding out his cookie. Gina went for it was was intercepted by Darlene.   
“Thankyou Jake, but Gina needs to eat her food, you eat your food. And drink some water please, you’ve only had orange soda today,” Darlene told him.  
“Water is bad for you,” Jake muttered.  
“Erm, excuse me. Good boys do what they are told,” Darlene said raising her eyebrows, desperately hoping she wasn’t going to have 2 disobedient kids on her hands.   
Jake remembered the gift shop and drank his water, but Gina wasn’t going to give in that easily.   
“Gina, I want you to eat the tomatoes, cheese and finish off your fruit before you go,” Darlene said.   
Gina pouted and put her head in her hands.   
“Fine you can just sit there then,” Darlene said, turning away.   
While the parents were distracted Gina gave some of her food to Jake to give to Charles to eat and then she began to toss other pieces in different directions. Sadly Darlene eventually saw her.   
“Regina!” She exclaimed, taking the food out of Gina’s hand and giving her a smack on the wrist.   
“Guys why don’t you go and play,” Lynn told the rest of them.   
“Well where Gina’s involved, Jake is usually involved,” Darlene said raising her eyebrows, still gripping onto Gina’s wrist.   
“No he’s not stealing my glory. It was all my idea!” Gina argued.   
Jake quickly hurried off after Rosa, Charles and Amy, to avoid any further questions.   
“Right I think someone needs to sit in timeout,” Darlene said, leading Gina over to a wall and place her against it.   
Gina did actually wilfully sit in timeout and then even ate the rest of her food, it may have been something to do with that if her Mom made her sit with them the rest of the day, she wouldn’t be able to see shirtless Terry again!

Once they were all back in the water they resumed playing, Amy’s Mom had blown up a beach ball for them and they were throwing that around to each other.   
“Hey kids, we’ve just got to go and put some more time on the parking tickets, so you all just stay here, we’ll be 5 minutes,” Darlene told them.  
They continued their game with the ball but then the boys from earlier appeared.   
“Hey losers!” They jeered, there were 4 of them, they were around 14 years old, no match for four 6 year olds and one 5 year old.   
One of them headed towards Jake, but Charles went to try and stop him, only to be pushed hard to the ground, where he burst into tears.   
“Aww they’re a bunch of crybabies!” One of the boys taunted.   
Another snatched the ball of Gina and burst it, afterwards he pushed her over too and managed to dodge her kicks to his shins. The ringleader grabbed Jake and punched him in the stomach, winding him. As one went to grab Rosa she kicked him, straight in between the legs, he screamed in pain, his friend turned to her Rosa but received the same kick. They ran away. Amy followed suit and kicked the other in between the legs, he then retreated. The ringleader, not wanting to be next, released Jake and ran after his friends.   
“Nice work girls!” Gina said.   
Charles had stopped crying and Jake slowly got to his feet, still panting from being winded.   
“Come on let’s go and find Terry!!” Gina said.   
“We need to wait for our parents,” Amy said.  
“Urghhh fine!” She sighed.


	12. The Waterpark IV

The fun continued in the afternoon, they splashed and played games and don’t even complain when the adults insisted on a sunblock top up.   
“Who wants to play hide and seek?” Charles suggested.  
They all agreed.  
“Good luck finding me,” Rosa said running off.   
The others followed suit.  
“I guess I’m on then,” Charles said with disappointment which quickly vanished as he began counting excitedly.   
Rosa went and hid on top of a roof, Jake and Gina both tried to follow eachother and settled on both hiding behind an ice cream van and seeing if they could steal any ice cream. Amy was desperate to win, her competitiveness was through the roof. She ran as fast as she could, desperately searching for a hiding spot. After 2 minutes of running, she was far away from the rest of the group and the place she had run to was completely deserted too. Amy looked up and saw what looked like a supply closet door or something; the perfect hiding place. She ran towards it, opening it and getting in, shutting the door quickly behind her. They would never find her here she was sure to win, she backed away from the door. It was pitch black in the room. The darkness began to freak her out, like it would to most six year old so she began to search for the light switch. She frisked the walls, losing all sense of where the door she came in was. Finally her hand touched a switch, she it flicked it and light filled the room. A room she now found was a room that was empty other than, a bucket and a mop and 4 identical door. Amy couldn’t remember which one she had come in. She went to the door nearest her, which turned out to be a cupboard, so did the next. As her hand touched the handle of the 3rd door she heard someone coming.   
“Hey! Who’s in there!” The voice shouted, it didn’t sound like a friendly voice. Fear instantly overwhelmed Amy as her heart began to pound, she quickly opened the door and hurried in the room shutting it behind her. She leant against the door panting, but when she opened her eyes she realised she wasn’t in the Waterpark. 

“Jake? Amy? Rosa? Gina?” Charles called. He had been searching for 15 minutes and there was no sign of any of them. He had checked round all the different slides and corners he could see. Just as he was about to give up his eyes landed on the ice cream van.  
“I am not telling you two again! Go away, stop trying to steal ice cream from my van or I’ll tell your parents!!” A man shouted at two figures. As Charles got closer he could see it was Jake and Gina. He decided he would sneak up on them, so they couldn’t run away. He hid behind trees and trash cans and once he was within a metre of them he then stood up.  
“Jakey! Gigi!” He exclaimed.   
Their heads shot round but before they could react Charles had reached them.  
“Found you!” He said tagging them.   
“Now we just need to find Rosa and Amy,” Jake said.   
They searched for another 10 minutes, eventually they decided Rosa and Amy must have been abducted so ran back to their parents.  
When they reached the adults they were surprised to see Rosa sitting there.  
“We thought you had been kidnapped!” Charles said.  
“Nah I just got bored of you not being able to find me,” she shrugged.  
“Where’s Amy?” Mrs Santiago asked.  
“We couldn’t find her,” Jake told her.  
“You mean you’ve left Amy on her own!” Darlene exclaimed.   
“No we were playing hide and seek and we couldn’t find her,” Gina replied.  
“How long since you saw her,” Lynn asked.  
“Nearly an hour,” Jake said, his face starting to show signs of worry.   
Mrs Santiago and Darlene got to their feet.  
“Right kids you all stay here with Lynn, incase she comes back!” Mrs Santiago said.  
“We can help find her,” Jake said getting up.  
“No Jake you all need to stay here, we can’t have anyone else getting lost,” Darlene told him.  
“I want to help, she might be scared,” Jake protested, stamping his foot.  
“Jake I mean it, you need to stay here. I’m putting you in charge of making sure no one else gets lost,” Darlene said crouching down and putting her hands on his shoulders.   
Mrs Santiago and Darlene then began their frantic search for Amy.   
“Jakey come sit down buddy, they’ll find her,” Lynn called over to Jake who was kicking at the ground.  
“Lynn, I’m hungry can we have some ice cream?” Gina asked as soon as her mother was out of ear shot.  
“Well once Jake joins us yes,” Lynn replied.  
“Jake get you butt over here!” Gina shouted, before getting up and dragging Jake over.   
“Now can we have ice cream?” She asked grinning. 

Amy kept walking, the panic inside her was beginning to grow. She had found herself in a corridor and as she walked along it hoping to find an exit she just found herself deeper in the maze of corridors. It looked a bit like she was in a museum, but she was too panicked to take in her surroundings. As she hurried round corners her eyes began to burn. Eventually she stopped, it was hopeless, she was well and truly lost.

Darlene and Mrs Santiago had searched everywhere, then searched again and again. Soon lost of the waterpark staff were searching. There had been several announcements on the loudspeaker, but still no sign of Amy. 

“I’m gonna go and find her,” Jake declared getting up.  
“No, Jake you need to stay here,” Lynn told him.   
“But what if she’s hurt,” Jake argued.   
“Look we will find Amy, she can’t have gone far,” Lynn assured him.  
“We should at least help look,” Rosa piped up.  
“Yeah I’m so bored, just sitting here. Let’s go find Arnie or whatever her name is,” Gina joined in.  
“Please dad,” Charles added.   
Lynn looked at the four kids hopeful faces.   
“Okay, but Jake, Gina you are holding my hands and Rosa you hold Gina’s hand, Charles you hold Jake’s, I cannot lose anyone else!” Lynn declared.   
“Gladly!” Charles said grinning as he grasped Jake’s hand.   
Jake took hold of Lynn’s hand and practically dragged them all away as he hurriedly began his search for Amy. 

Amy had stopped running down the corridors and sat down against a wall. Her head hurried in her hands and her knees pulled tightly to her chest. She cried, she was lost, forever, no one was ever going to find her. Her competitive streak reminded her that she had definitely won hide and seek. But that didn’t matter anymore, she wanted her Mom and she wanted her friends. Suddenly the silence was broken and footsteps echoed down the halls. Amy was too scared to run, she was frozen to the spot. It was probably that horrible man from earlier. She buried her face deeper into her hands and scrunched herself up really tight, hoping they might not see her.   
As the footsteps got closer, her heartbeat got faster. Until the sound stopped, whoever it was, was standing right in front of her. She braced herself but nothing happened.   
“Amy?” A familiar voice asked.  
“Principal Holt?” She returned her head shooting up.


	13. The Waterpark V

“You look distressed, what is the problem?” Holt asked concerned.  
Amy look at Holt and then up at the man he was with, he smiled at her kindly.   
“Well, I-“ she spluttered, but then instantly erupted back into sobs.  
Kevin crouched down and placed a hand on her knee, her crying slowed. Holt then knelt down too and rubbed her back, until she had calmed herself down.   
“I think I’m lost,” she told them, wiping her eyes.  
“Ah, I see. Now where are you lost from?” Holt asked.  
“I was at the Waterpark, with Jake, Gina, Rosa and Charles and then I went through a door and then another door and kept getting more and more lost,” Amy said, without taking a breath.  
Kevin gave a small smile; so these were some of his new students. Holt’s face also revealed the slightest smile, when he heard the names of the students.   
“Well we passed the Waterpark on the way in Raymond, I am sure if we take young Amy here over there, we can find her parents,” Kevin suggested, rising up.   
Amy smiled; principal Holt’s husband knew her name.   
“Yes good idea Kevin,” Holt said standing back up.   
Kevin held out a hand and helped Amy to her feet. They set off down the corridor. 

Lynn Boyle, was frantic, he was not only searching for Amy but also desperately trying to keep tabs on the other 4 kids. Charles was fine, he was just holding his hand, Gina was just dancing about. Rosa and Jake were a little harder. Rosa was running about doing impressive parkour off everything, while looking for Amy. Jake was charging about at 100 miles an hour trying to find Amy, stopping every 5 minutes to tell everyone that the only explanation was she had been abducted by aliens. As he was busy scanning trying to see where Jake had disappeared to, he saw Mrs Santiago and Darlene running over to him.  
“Anything?” He called hopefully.  
“No nothing,” Darlene said, she was filled with worry.   
“I think we should go to reception again and ask if anyone has seen her,” Mrs Santiago said, filled with panic.   
“Is Amy okay?” Charles asked, his eyes brimming with tears.   
“I don’t know darling, but we’re going to find her,” Lynn said.   
“Rosa, we’ve going to reception now,” Darlene called. Rosa ran over to them and took Lynn’s open hand.   
Mrs Santiago had already headed off to reception.  
“Jake?” Darlene asked Lynn as she grabbed Gina’s hand as she was mid dance move, much to Gina’s annoyance.   
“I’ve lost track. He was running about trying to find Amy,” Lynn said.   
“Right I’ll go and get him, you take those two to reception,” Darlene said, marching Gina off to look for Jake.  
They only walked for about a minute when they saw him darting past. Darlene managed to grab his arm.   
“I’m trying to find Amy,” he said trying to wiggle away.  
“Yeah we all are, but we can’t lose you as well. We’re going back to reception to see if anyone has seen her, so come on,” Darlene said.  
Gina was beginning to get bored and trying to dance, even though her Mom was holding her hand.   
“What if Amy’s hurt? What if we never find her?” Jake asked, his face filled with worry and desperation.   
“No we’re going to find her,” Darlene assured him.  
“Ok, I’ll go and find her,” Jake said and run off.  
“Jacob!” She shouted after him. 

Holt and Kevin, each held one of Amy’s hands. They wouldn’t usually consider such physical contact, but it seemed to reassure the distressed girl. As they walked down the street Kevin tried to distract Amy by talking about some math. Holt smiled; Kevin was going to be such a good teacher for these kids.   
“There is it!” Amy exclaimed, seeing the entrance she had come in at the start of the day.   
“Now we just need to find your-“ Holt began, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.   
“Amy!!!!” Charles screeched charging over and crashing into her with a hug.   
Then Mrs Santiago, Lynn and Rosa rushed over.  
“Are you okay?” Mrs Santiago asked her, hugging her daughter tight.  
“Yeah, I’m so sorry, I just got lost when playing hide and seek. Then Principal Holt found me,” Amy told them.  
Rosa looked horrified, they were face to face with a teacher outside of school.   
“Oh Principal Holt, I cannot thank you enough. We were worried sick,” She thanked them. Shaking both his and Kevin’s hands gratefully.   
“It was no problem. I must say it is a pleasant surprise to see some of my students. Amy did mention there were are few more of you here,” Holt wondered.   
As if on cue, the reception doors opened and Darlene came in. Gina was dragging her forward as she tried to dance and Jake was dragging her backwards, still desperately trying to escape her grip and run off to find Amy.  
“Gina, slow down! Jake, stop it now! We are going to find Amy!” Darlene shouted, as she tried to leash Gina and wrestle Jake in.   
Gina didn’t even notice Amy was there, she was too absorbed in her dancing.   
“Amy!” Jake burst out.   
Darlene’ head shot up and she ran over.  
“Are you okay darling?” She asked, Amy nodded.  
Jake charged forward and nearly knocked her over with a hug.   
“ I thought you’d been abducted by aliens!” He told her, so relieved to see his friend again. Jake then realised he had been hugging her for an awkwardly long amount of time and released her hurriedly and hoped nobody had noticed. But he was quickly distracted.  
“Principal Holt!?” He exclaimed.   
“Jacob,” Holt returned, with a smile undetectable to the naked eye.   
“Now I didn’t think Waterparks were really your scene,” he said cheekily.  
“They are not. I was at the museum adjacent to the park, when I came across Amy,” Holt said, Jake look disgusted at the word museum.   
“Well thank you so much for all your help Mr Holt,” Darlene said, all the adults thanked him.  
“Come on kids,” Lynn said.  
“Children, this is Mr Cozner by the way, you will be seeing a lot of him next year,” Holt told them.  
Kevin looked around at them all. Rosa nodded at him then headed off.  
“Diaz I presume,” he muttered to Raymond.  
Amy shook his hand and beamed up him before joining her Mom.  
“Amy,” Kevin muttered.  
“Hi I’m-“ Charles began, very over excitedly and enthusiastic.  
“Charles?” Kevin asked.  
“YES!” Charles shrieked, before rushing over to his dad.  
“Gina,” Jake said, shaking Kevin’s hand.  
“Jake,” Gina said, shaking his hand.  
They both ran off laughing.  
“So that was Mr Peralta and Miss Linetti,” Kevin said to Holt. They watched as the group wandered back into the park.   
“Well now I am excited for school to start,” Kevin said to his husband.  
“Me too,” Holt replied, smiling at Kevin. 

“Right guys you can have 20 more minutes in the water and then we need to go home,” Darlene said.   
The kids charged off, desperate to make the most of every second.  
“Maybe don’t play hide and seek,” Mrs Santiago called after them.   
Those last 20 minutes were the best of the whole day, they had never felt more like a group of 5 best friends before. They laughed and played, all of them, even Gina and Rosa. It was like a magical childhood photo come to life. As the sun began to get lower in the sky, Darlene finally got up and called them all in. For the first time all day, all the children followed the adult’s instructions. 

As they were heading for the changing rooms, they chatted happily and excitedly about all the things that had happened today. Rosa was so busy talking, something she was not too familiar with, that she didn’t notice the uneven path. Her foot caught something and she tumbled to the ground. Darlene rushed over.  
“Are you okay?” Charles asked leaning in.  
“Give her some space Charles,” Lynn said pulling him back.  
She had fell hard on her knee and it has a nasty cut and a few grazes.   
“Oh it’s okay sweetheart,” Darlene said, rubbing Rosa on the back and reaching for the mini first aid kit in her back: a necessity for any mother of a child under 10.   
The combination of the pain and love she was receiving resulted in a very unusual reaction from Rosa. Her eyes began to fill with tears and she couldn’t stop them, soon they were pouring down her face. Darlene saw this and brought her into a hug only causing the tears to fall more.   
The rest of the group stood back in shock, Rosa was crying.   
Darlene soothed her and then tended to her knee, by the time it had been patched up, the tears had vanished and there was no trace of them ever being there.  
“All better sweetheart, you were so brave. I am so proud,” Darlene said, giving her a final embrace.  
She helped Rosa to her feet and then held out her hand, Rosa took it happily, with a smile firmly on her face. 

They managed to reach the outside of the locker rooms without any further incidents.   
“Right we need to go and get the stuff, so you guys just stay here for a minute,” Mrs Santiago said. The adults headed in, leaving the kids outside.  
They were all chatting when a voice interrupted them.  
“Hey look it’s the babies,” the boy from early said, he shoved Charles into the wall.  
“Leave us alone,” Rosa said firmly, he leg was too sore to kick them this time. She hoped intimidation would be enough. But she was flung back into the wall too.  
They boys then grabbed Jake and Amy who struggled. Jake was punched in the chest as he desperately tried to get away.  
“Leave them alone!” A firm voice boomed.  
The boys released them and turned to see a humongous figure.   
“Shirtless Terry,” Gina whispered.   
Amy composed herself and Jake got to his feet with a grin on his face, despite his hurting ribs.   
“Now say sorry,” Terry told them.  
The boys all muttered a sheepish apology.  
“Now get your asses out of here,” he said finally, the gang of bullies instantly scuttled away, terrified.   
As soon as they left the fierce face Terry had been holding turned back to his normal fatherly caring one.   
“Is everyone okay?” He asked.  
“Yeah we’re fine, thanks for helping us,” Jake said.  
Gina was fixated on his muscles.   
“No worries. Now I guess I’ll see you guys in a few weeks in school,” Terry said, as Cagney and Lacey emerged from the toilets and dragged him off.   
They all waved goodbye and Gina broke out from her daydream.   
Soon they were back in reception, changed and ready to head home.  
The kids were heading out the door.  
“Aren’t you forgetting something,” the adults called, standing next to the gift shop.  
“We still get to go?” Jake asked surprised.   
“Yes I think you do, one thing each,” Mrs Santiago told them.  
The gang instantly went inside.  
“Jake, Gina come here please,” Darlene said. Their faces instantly sunk.   
“No it’s not bad, I just want to talk to you.” Darlene said.  
“Do we still get a gift?” Jake asked.  
“Yes, but I need to talk to you first. Now neither of you were perfect today. But I am pretty proud of both of you. Jake you had a few moments, but all but one of them you managed to snap yourself out of, which I am very proud of you for. And the one you didn’t was when we were trying to find Amy. Now I know it was because you were worried about your friend, but if you had kept running off, you could have got lost too. So I want you to promise me next time you’ll listen?” Darlene asked him.  
“I promise,” he replied with a smiled. She gave him a hug.   
“And Gina, although you also had your moments and I had to put you in timeout. I think that is the first timeout you’ve ever actually sat and not tried to run away, so I am pretty proud of you too. You were very grown up today and I am a very lucky Mom,” Darlene said, giving Gina a big hug, which Gina accepted happily with a grin.  
“Now can we-“ Jake started.  
“Yes, now you can go and pick a toy,” Darlene sighed, but laughed to herself as they ran off together in search for the best toy. 

“Bye Jake, bye Gina, bye Charles,” Rosa called getting into Mrs Santiago’s car.  
They all waved at her.  
“Bye Gina, I’m gonna miss you, bye Amy I’m gonna miss you and Jakey I’m gonna miss you!” Charles said giving them all a massive hug.   
“You’re gonna see us at Jake’s birthday in like a week?” Gina said.  
“Such a long time,” Charles said, wiping his eyes and getting in.  
Lynn said bye to all the parents and hugged all the kids and then watched as Charles waved non stop as they drove away.   
Mrs Santiago said goodbye to Darlene then gave Gina and Jake a cuddle each.  
“Come on Amy,” she called going back to the car.  
“Well bye then, I guess I’ll see you next week at the party,” she said.   
“Yep, bye Arnie,” Gina said, going to join her Mom in the car, leaving Amy and Jake.  
“Well bye then,” Jake said.  
“Bye,” Amy replied shyly and they both walked away.  
“Jake?” Amy called out, Jake rushed back to her.  
“Ummm thanks for looking out for me today and like searching for me when I was lost,” she said looking at him nervously.  
“No problem, errrmmm thanks for helping out with those big kids,” he replied with the same nervousness.  
“No problem, thanks for inviting me,” she laughed.  
“Thanks for coming,” Jake grinned back.  
“I’ll see you at your birthday party?” She said.  
“Yeah,” Jake said.  
They both hugged, a little longer than anyone else had hugged and then scurried back to their cars with big smiles on their faces.   
Jake didn’t even wriggling when Darlene strapped him in and as they drove away he didn’t take his eyes off Amy and she didn’t stop staring at him either. 

The drive back was amazing for Darlene, Jake and Gina fell asleep after 10 minutes and didn’t even wake up when they reached Jake’s house. Karen came out to meet them, she smiled at the sleeping kids. She picked up Jake who stirred slightly but then was fast asleep on her shoulder.  
“How was it?” Karen asked.  
“1 fight, 1 fell over, a couple of cuts and bruises, 1 timeout, a few tantrums and one got lost,” Darlene replied.  
“Pretty standard then?” Karen laughed.  
“With that lot, yep, I wouldn’t have expected any less,” Darlene laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly time for the second school year, so get your suggestions in. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment any suggestions you hve for the summer or school series.


End file.
